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WHAT THE PROFESSIONALS THINK
Site Location: Minnetonka, MN
Date: August 2007
Job Size: 4000 sq. ft.
Site Engineer: Civil Solutions Group LLC
Millenia Units: SC100 1 sq ft unit, Chisel face, Adobe Tan
Site Solution: 14' high reinforced walls were required to level off two residential building sites to accommodate for the foundations of the projected homes along a large wetland.
Wall Contractor: Jeremy Banken
Owner, Structures Hardscapes Specialists Inc
  "We selected Millenia's SC100 units for this project in Minnetonka, MN because of the product’s aesthetics, strength and sustainability. On this particular site aesthetics were very important because of the natural setting of the homes in a wooded cul-de-sac overlooking wetlands. These luxury homes, when finished, will be detailed with stone exteriors, and Millenia was able to match the color and detail of the selected exterior stone for the homes. This is a great advantage, one not easily accomplished with other SRW products. The natural look of stone was remarkable in the Millenia units, and the detail and even the feel of the faces were impressive. The aesthetics of any wall constructed is of utmost importance to my clients. Millenia's perfectionism and detail when it comes to aesthetic appeal are apparent. I heard a guy looking over the Millenia faces comment that the faces on the Millenia units make natural stone look bad.

The lightweight aspect of the Millenia product was an enormous benefit to the crew. They were impressed with the easy handling and quick install of the Millenia units. At the end of the day, the crew was not exhausted and had installed more square footage per man, per day than they ever had before on any retaining wall project with concrete blocks. My crews look forward to the days when all we do is install Millenia Wall units.

The strength of the Millenia units, when compacted, is like nothing we have seen before. We were able to run the compactor directly on top of the Millenia units, allowing for greater compaction. That gave us greater confidence in the structure. With typical concrete products, compaction jars the heavy units away from the earth, rotating the tails upward and past vertical. During compaction with Millenia's units, we were surprised to see that they actually moved slightly inward toward the earth during compaction. That was a first and proved to me that Millenia units provide exceptional strength and stability. The wall structure becomes integrated and molded into the earth and the backfill behind it.

I admit that at first we were skeptical. When you use Millenia wall units in one application, you become convinced of the advantages and solutions it provides to problems we've dealt with in this industry for years past. There's really no reason to not use Millenia. The units are cost-effective, time- and labor-saving, environmentally friendly, aesthetically pleasing and maintenance-free. You can be confident while installing Millenia's wall units that you won’t be returning to troubleshoot efflorescence, chipping or cracking, fading, degrading or replacing the structure in five years due to wear and tear from the elements. What else could you ask for?

Once this secret gets out, it's going to forever change the way walls are built."

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